ليس
Arabic
Etymology 1
Uncertain. Traditionally taken to be a contracted pronunciation of either an earlier form Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), whose ultimate origin is in turn unknown or unexplored, or of لَا (lā, “not”) + an existential أَيْس (ʔays)[1] that has a proposed etymology in Proto-Semitic *ys < *yṯ. This existential would be a native cognate to Hebrew יֵשׁ (yēš)[2] and Akkadian 𒌇 (/išu/, “to have or own; to be”, also used copulatively), although Al-Jallad (2018) expresses doubt that it is anything more than a back-formation from the negative, in other words implying that لَا (lā, “not”) + *أَيْس (*ʔays, existential) is just a folk etymology from which أَيْس (ʔays) was created artificially. Al-Jallad proceeds to attest a form of Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value) in a Safaitic inscription dated between the first century BC and the fourth century AD, whose form, he says, invalidates the possibility of an origin in a verb Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value); he thereby argues that Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value) may either be a loan from Neo-Assyrian 𒆷𒀸𒋗 (la-aš-šu /laššu/, “there is not”) or from Taymanitic 𐪁𐪚𐪏 (lys3 /lāʾis, lāyis/, “not existing or being”).[3]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /laj.sa/
Verb
لَيْسَ • (laysa)
- (copulative, defective) not to be
- (invariably masculine singular) except
- Synonym: لَا يَكُونُ (lā yakūnu)
- جَاءَ النَّاسُ لَيْسَ زُهَيْرًا
- jāʔa n-nāsu laysa zuhayran
- People came, except for Zuhayr
- not to exist; there is not
Usage notes
This is a defective verb. It has only perfect indicative forms with a present-tense meaning. If there is a subject complement, it comes up in the accusative or (with بِـ (bi-)) the genitive.
Conjugation
- Before consonantal endings, the diphthong -ay- is reduced to a short -a-:
singular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
1st person | لَسْتُ (lastu) | لَسْنَا (lasnā) | |
2nd person m | لَسْتَ (lasta) | لَسْتُمَا (lastumā) | لَسْتُمْ (lastum) |
2nd person f | لَسْتِ (lasti) | لَسْتُنَّ (lastunna) | |
3rd person m | Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value) | لَيْسَا (laysā) | لَيْسُوا (laysū) |
3rd person f | لَيْسَتْ (laysat) | لَيْسَتَا (laysatā) | لَسْنَ (lasna) |
See also
- كَانَ (kāna)
Particle
لَيْسَ • (laysa)
- Used to negate verbs
- 10th century, Al-Mutanabbi :
- وَلَيْسَ يَصِحُّ فِي الْأَفْهَامِ شَيْءٌ / إِذَا ٱحْتَاجَ النَّهَارُ إِلَى دَلِيلِ
- walaysa yaṣiḥḥu fī l-ʔafhāmi šayʔun / ʔiḏā ḥtāja n-nahāru ʔilā dalīli
- وَلَيْسَ يَصِحُّ فِي الْأَفْهَامِ شَيْءٌ / إِذَا ٱحْتَاجَ النَّهَارُ إِلَى دَلِيلِ
Conjunction
لَيْسَ • (laysa)
- (rare, disputed) not (refers to a preceding context)
- أَيْنَ الْمَفَرُّ وَالْإِلَهُ الطَّالِبُ
وَالْأَشْرَمُ الْمَغْلُوبُ لَيْسَ الْغَالِبُ- ʔayna l-mafarru wa-l-ʔilahu ṭ-ṭālibu
wa-l-ʔašramu l-maḡlūbu laysa l-ḡālibu - (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- ʔayna l-mafarru wa-l-ʔilahu ṭ-ṭālibu
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /la.ji.sa/
Verb
لَيِسَ • (layisa) I, non-past يَلْيَسُ (yalyasu)
- to be valiant, to be brave, to be courageous
Conjugation
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
Noun
لَيَس • (layas) m
- Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value) (form I)
Declension
Lua error: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
References
- Lane, Edward William (1863), “ليس”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1625-1627
- David Wilmsen (2016), page 330, Another Croft cycle in Arabic: The laysa negative existential cycle. Advance online publication.
- Ahmad Al-Jallad (2018), The earliest attestation of laysa and the implications for its etymology. Advance online publication.